IPL 2022, PBKS vs SRH: 3 player battles to watch out for
Two IPL teams tied at six points in the IPL point table, Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, will lock horns in match 28 of the ongoing IPL 2022, according to the IPL schedule 2022. The Kane Williamson-led unit are on an impressive run of form, winning all three of their previous encounters.
They had kicked off their campaign poorly, however, losing their first two matches. But since then, they have been a rejuvenated unit and have performed well as a team.
On the other hand, Punjab Kings got over their last-over heartbreak against Gujarat Titans by beating Mumbai Indians by 12 runs in their previous outing.
Today's battle promises to be an exciting affair as the subplot of the contest could be Punjab's power-hitting batting versus the Sunrisers' lethal pace bowling.
On that note, ahead of today's high-profile evening clash between PBKS and SRH, we look at three player battles to watch out for.
#3. Shikhar Dhawan vs Umran Malik
After a few average performances in the initial games, Shikhar Dhawan returned to his best against MI. He scored 70 runs off 50 deliveries and made himself PBKS' top run-getter in IPL 2022. In five games, the left-hander has amassed 197 runs.
Dhawan will look to continue his impressive form but will have to come up against Hyderabad's fiery pacer Umran Malik. The young right-armer from Kashmir has grabbed headlines for his tearaway speed as well as his ability to rush even the best of batters this season.
Umran will be oozing in confidence after bamboozling Shreyas Iyer with a stunning yorker and getting two wickets in the previous game.
Will the seasoned southpaw be able to deal with the express pacer's threat? Only time will tell.
Click here for the latest IPL live score 2022 and news updates.
#2. Rahul Tripathi vs Rahul Chahar
SRH's No. 3 Rahul Tripathi will go into today's game in red-hot form. In their previous IPL 2022 clash against Kolkata, he turned the game in his side's favor by putting up an excellent show with the bat. The 31-year-old scored 71 runs off 37 balls, including four boundaries and six maximums.
Tripathi took Knight Riders spinner Varun Chakravarthy to the cleaners and will aim to do the same when he comes up against Rahul Chahar of PBKS.
Chahar, on the other hand, will look to bounce back from his off day against his former side MI. While he has dismissed Tripathi once in two matches, the right-hander strikes at a rate of 183 against the leg-spinner.
It will be worth the wait to see which team's Rahul comes out on top in today's clash.
#1. PBKS' dangerman Liam Livingstone vs SRH's specialist T Natarajan
Another mouth-watering battle which could even determine the outcome of the game will be between Punjab's explosive batter Liam Livingstone and SRH's man-in-form T Natarajan.
The Englishman has already produced some phenomenal batting performances for Punjab this IPL. His strike rate of 186.3 is the second-best among all batters who have scored at least 100 runs in the league this season.
Livingstone's fearless approach might certainly tempt Kane Williamson to hand the ball to T Natarajan against the right-hander. With 11 wickets in five IPL 2022 outings, Natarajan is the joint-second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament so far.
His ability to bowl precise yorkers at will might yet again trouble Livingstone, who couldn't keep out Jasprit Bumrah's toe-crushing yorker in the previous game.